Scene 1: Alpha Site

The remainder of the dive proceeded without incident, with plenty of gaps in the stone for which to take a breath progreas was slow but steady.

At the end it opened to a chamber dimly lit, with the excavation team huddled around two people, one with a clearly broken leg, the other bleeding heavily from a deep gash in their arm.

Justice panned the room with the flashlight and stopped, staring transfixed at what lay beyond a collapsed false wall. An engraved coverstone. It was 30ft square, and the meticulous detail implied it held great significance.

Upon seeing the wounded Kowalsky and Messer immediately began diagnosis.

"This is real bad. He's lost alot of blood." Messer was suturing the wound closed, pink arterial blood had already started to congeal on the stones. The culprit was the same stone from the false wall that had broken the femur of the other digger. Patrick O'Malley was ashen white, and getting worse by the second. Messer was working hard to save the man's life, but it was too little too late. O'Malley died of bloodloss - maybe if the team had moved a little quicker, but there was no time to consider alternatives.

"Shit, he was a civilian too." Justice groaned and held O'Malley's face staring into the dead man's eyes. Memorizing the details of it, he closed the bodies eyes and grimaced. Shaking his head he moved over to help rig a travois with Donahue, though with only duct tape and aged roots this deep the end result was only slightly better than nothing.

As Messer was busy with O'Malley, Kowalsky was working on the injured leg. He had worked Johnson, the injured man's belt, between his teeth. Grabbing Duclair's hand's he placed them on Johnson's hip. "Hold him steady. I have to set this before we move him." Kowalsky ordered, he was firm but not guff in his manner realizing Elias was not his subordinate. Johnson was unconscious, luckily for him, as setting the compound fracture was a two step process.

Kowalsky made sure Elias was braced before yanking hard at Johnson's knee. The visceral pop caused Elias' stomach to churn and he involuntarily released Johnson's hip, he was feeling quite nauseous. Being in contact with Johnson, he had felt the vibration through him it had awakened a primal aversion but he had managed to hold his dinner. Kowalsky pushed the femur back together, it was a pulpy sound as the vacuum in the body was suddenly filled.

Lauman helped load Johnson onto the stretcher. He waved the group to his light. "Any of you have experience wit' CASEVAC?"

Messer was recording time of death in a logbook. Cause of death, and moving over to resuscitate Johnson.

Justice pulled an emergency blanket over O'Malley's body and looked around the group. "I'll need someone to help recover O'Malley with me. Not you four, you should swim back now." He motioned to the four diggers who were obviously exhausted from the ordeal. They departed forthwith. Leaving the seven to decide how to proceed.

Messer grimaces as whatever he injected into Johnson hadn't worked as desired. He pulled apart his bag and preemptively intubated Johnson, then lashed a quick splint with duct tape and a bit of plastic rod he had kept for just this circumstance. He hands an O2 Bag and Mask to Duclair. Looking at the water in the cave and wincing. "Hold these, look at the tubes, prepare to attach the bag as soon as we get him to the other side. He is going to drown on the way there. That means he will seize. Can you restrain him?" He looked to Lauman who immediately nodded then over to Donahue as well looking for confirmation.

Justice had tied up O'Malley's body in the emergency blanket and moved it over to the water's edge. Seeing that Veronica had taken things well in charge he shouldered O'Malley and started to make for the water, quickly sinking to his shoulders. "I will make sure the lights are secured as I move ahead." He said and began to swim ahead into the gloom of the cave. Kowalsky followed immediately behind him. They traded.who carried the body at the very edge of the light. Just before the dive, then, diving they vanished.

The hard part came when Johnson was in the water, as long as his head was kept above the surface progress was easy. Three people carrying made the weight manageable. Johnson was stable for now. They came to the shelf. The only way through was to dive. Messer was clearly distressed but what else could be done? "He is going to flail, keep him on the stretcher." He was giving advice mostly to himself at this point. He took a deep breath and counted down from three on his left hand. At count zero he pulled the travois down and began to swim hard into the depth.

Bubbles poured from Johnson's mouth and nose as they descended. And almost as soon as they stopped Johnson took a lungful of water. His nervous system, in panic began to thrash. His arms and legs flailed as he actively fought against rescue the subconscious desperate to live impeded the life saving efforts. As his mind's aggression limiters were unconscious the bodies strength was amplified. He kept breaking free of their holds.

During the traversal, one of Johnson's kicks slipped past Donahue's block and caught him right in the diaphragm, precious air was forced out, but there was no turning back. Grit alone carried Donahue forward. His lungs burning, limbs felt like lead, and his blood burned, but Donahue pushed on.

Duclair in an agitated state was likewise burning through oxygen at an increased rate. His experience only a few minutes before near drowning on the way in was fresh in his mind. It was all he could do to not panic. At the end Veronica leading the way, they pulled Johnson and each other from the water. Her effort to lead saving more than one life.

Messer didn't even allow himself to catch his breath rolling Johnson on his side. "Get the bag attached." He panted, and began to strike Johnson hard between the shoulder blades. "Soon as you do, pump once every three seconds."

Elias found it easy to attach the bag to the two tubes in the IT tube. Johnson wasn't clearing the water on his own. So when he first compressed the bag, the fluid was pushed free. It squirt out Johnson's nose, snot and cave water squirted free. And Johnson immediately sucked in a lungful of air. Shock and adrenaline rousing him. Johnson's eyes snapped to full wakefulness, he clung to Elias, the worst of the shock fading quickly. Elias sensed that he had just saved this man.

Moments later Justice and Kowalsky lowered two additional ropes from above, the day was won.

Mission Accomplished